A young entrepreneur has sold his home and possessions to take McDonald’s to court after it scrapped his only cleaning contracts overnight.
Alex Batarseh says he’s been left ‘destroyed’ after the fast food giant – who was his only client – allegedly pulled the plug on its eight-store contract with his Sydney cleaning company A2Z Property Maintenance in July 2016.
The decision left the 29-year-old’s three full-time employees and 18 subcontractors instantly out of jobs, before the company went into liquidation last year.
Mr Batarseh has since also sold his $800,000 west Sydney home and most of his possessions to fund a ‘David and Goliath’ battle against McDonald’s, news.com.au reported.
Alex Batarseh, 29, has sold his home and possessions to take McDonald’s (stock image) to court after it scrapped his only cleaning contracts overnight
The decision left the 29-year-old’s three full-time employees and 18 subcontractors instantly out of jobs, before the company went into liquidation last year (stock image)
‘I sold everything. My house, my car, my hobbies, my personal stuff, my fishing gear. I literally have nothing. It’s just completely destroyed me. I can’t put it into words, to know the company I built from scratch just vanished,’ Mr Batarseh told the publication.
Mr Batarseh sought $1.5million in damages for breaches of contract against McDonald’s in April 2017, but the case stalled when his funds ran out.
Now liquidator Grant Thornton is set to decide whether to take up the case on Mr Batarseh’s company’s behalf, after it questions senior McDonald’s employees under oath in the New South Wales Supreme Court this week.
Their answers will help the liquidators determine if the case has merit and if it wishes to take up the company’s fight.
The cleaning business flourished five years ago after McDonald’s approached Mr Batarseh – who was already doing maintenance and cleaning jobs for the company – to expand his role.
A lucrative eight-store deal was offered, including stores in Sydney’s Castle Hill, Milperra, North Parramatta and Homebush.
Mr Batarseh has since sold his $800,000 west Sydney home (pictured) and most of his possessions to fund a ‘David and Goliath’ battle against McDonald’s
Mr Batarseh says he’s been left ‘destroyed’ after the fast food giant allegedly pulled the plug on its eight-store contract with his Sydney cleaning company A2Z Property Maintenance in July 2016 (pictured is the Sydney home he has now sold)
‘My company became super-dependent on them and I invested all my time and effort. Two years ago, McDonald’s decided to just terminate each and every contract for all external cleaners,’ Mr Batarseh said.
He then received an email from a McDonald’s executive in July 2016, saying the company was ‘remodelling’ its cleaning procedure and offering more people the chance to become McDonald’s employees.
But Mr Batarseh claims he was told verbally that the decision was actually ‘risk-management’ in the wake of the 7-Eleven visa scandal.
He claims his contract had a 24-month clause due to the company’s dependence on McDonald’s, who he said told him ‘don’t send the guys tomorrow morning’.
Mr Batarseh sold his home (pictured) and took up his legal battle against McDonald’s in 2017 while also looking after his mother, who has since died from cancer
‘I sold everything. My house, my car, my hobbies, my personal stuff, my fishing gear. I literally have nothing,’ Mr Batarseh said
Mr Batarseh then took up his legal battle against McDonald’s in 2017 while also looking after his mother, who has since died from cancer.
He said: ‘It’s David and Goliath. You cannot go against McDonald’s because they’re too big and too powerful.’
Mr Batarseh said he is now in $700,000 of debt as he owes money to the bank, the Australian Taxation Office, a subcontractor and the lawyers.
He also still has $500,000 of his mortgage to pay out, news.com.au reported.
The 29-year-old will now be forced to find a litigation funder if McDonald’s choose to not settle.
McDonald’s has previously rejected A2Z’s claims and will ‘vigorously’ defend the claims made against it, according to the liquidators’ report filed with the corporate regulator in October.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted McDonald’s for comment.